20 Questions with... The Boss You Will Brag to Your Friends About

There is a sneaky guilty pleasure of mine when I find strong senior females in the financial service sector.... I stalk. Oh do I stalk. I'm not even ashamed of it.

Usually, until they become my friend.

Think Joe from You...But less sinister.

I talk to the people in their teams, and I try and figure out the road to their careers.

I do it because I love to have actual advice for all of the messages I get from women in the FCC sector trying to move up the ladder.

So, when I saw Cat had been made Partner at Baringa, I had to put on my little Joe cap, and go lurkin'.

Senior levels in financial services have sometimes been thought of as male, stale and well a bit boring and posh. Talking to Cat was a tonic. Her answer to who she looks up to (question 12) will give you a snapshot of her refreshing approach.

The word on the street (aka results of my stalking), is she leads with humanity first, pushes you that one step further than you were going to and seems to always step back into the crowd when praise is being dished out ... maybe she could train a few of the bosses I know ??

So without further ado: "20 Questions with... The Boss You Will Brag to Your Friends About"

1. Tell me about a typical day for you?

The start of the day is focused on getting the kids off to school and then my day is full of a mix of client work, internal meetings, recruitment, and networking.

2. Tell me about your first financial services job and how you got it?

My first proper job was as a branch teller at Westpac in NZ (I am from Australia). When I was 16 I started working on Saturdays at the horse racing inputting bets, so I had a lot of experience handling cash, and it seemed like an obvious choice.

3. What do you love about your current role?

I enjoy working with clients and building long-term relationships where you become almost an extension of their team, dropping in to help solve a problem or provide a view. I love the amount of change; every day is different, and every role is different. Being in a fast-growing consultancy it is great to be able to be more flexible and responsive (as well as avoiding excessive admin).?

4. What do you love the least about your current role?

Admin.

5. What has been the biggest development or issue you have seen in the last 12 months in your role

The biggest issue I have seen in the industry is actually delivering on change or remediation programmes and implementing controls which are robust, cost-effective and sustainable.

6. What do you predict will be the biggest for the next 12 months?

The biggest development I see coming is regulatory reform and the extent to which our regulators deviate from Europe, I also think there will be more focus on fraud and the payments system regulator.

7. If you could have another career, what would you have done?

I would have liked to be an educational psychologist. I find it really interesting how kids learn in different ways, and how the schooling system caters primarily for one type.

8. What would surprise people to know about your job?

At Baringa we have a model which is 10 team members to each partner so I spend much of my day rolling up my sleeves and working with clients and with the team. I don’t have an office or spend my day only overseeing the work.

9. What’s your best advice for the most junior person in your team

Don’t underestimate the power of building your network and maintaining it. Don’t lose touch with the colleagues you enjoyed working with and get in the habit of maintaining it in a genuine (and enjoyable way). It is always time well spent.

10. What’s the best advice for the most senior person in your team

Don’t try to be a super-hero and shout when you need help. Keep an eye on your stress and workload as sometimes it can creep up on you and unexpectedly run you over.

11. If you had to name one personal trait which makes you good at your job, what would it be?

I think it’s my focus on delivery and my ability to relate to different stakeholders and use that to navigate around organisations and broker between different groups. I understand their point of view and get different groups to come to an agreement on the next steps. I also get to the root of problems quickly.

12. Who do you look up to?

Strong female leaders, even better if they are flawed. I love seeing women who have made it to the top, who aren’t superwomen but have persevered and got there. It isn’t easy and I admire it.

13. What do you think makes a good consultant in financial crime?

Someone who can build relationships easily and likes change and learning new things. They also need to be able to work at speed and deliver to a high standard.

14. What do you say you do, when asked at a BBQ?

I would probably say I am a management consultant in financial services or compliance. Something high-level and vague which helps avoiding having to explain I’m not out arresting drug lords!

15. What tool do you think is the most useful in doing your job?

I don’t use many tools, but I like a good excel spreadsheet. We spent a lot of time supporting customers with their customer screening and monitoring tools anything from optimising their TM systems to helping implement a new tool, but I would leave it up to the professionals in the team.?

16. How do you keep up to date with industry knowledge?

Speaking to colleagues who work on different engagements, and clients. Talking to clients, vendors and reading. I read anything from publications from regulators or fine notices or the latest vendor updates on Linkedin.

17. I have just graduated, but want to get into financial crime – what do you think I should do?

I think joining a graduate programme in a consultancy is a great way to gain core consulting skills as well as having lots of opportunities to get involved in financial crime work. The role can be really challenging but getting into a good team makes all the difference.

18. What is your favourite restaurant/bar in London?

I am going to throw in a curveball and say La Chingada. I have it on good authority it is the most authentic Mexican in London, which I totally believe.

19. What do you look for when hiring people and how does someone impress you?

The ability to quickly build a rapport and describe instances of successful delivery. It’s also important to admit when you don’t know something or make sure you understand the question being asked. Whatever you do, don’t guess an answer!

20. Finally – what is one thing you want to learn more about?

Climate risk and sustainability. Baringa has a market leading climate risk offering and so it’s something I hear about at the coffee machine and am interested in, but I really don’t understand much about what they do. It also has the same kind of purpose and intent as financial crime in trying to do good.

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Speak soon,

Jess